Pick Up the Puzzler Pieces
by Anubis Soundwave
Summary: Aftermath of the Puzzler conflict, where the Guardians learn the truth about the Puzzler Six's origins....
1. Braxis 01

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-01**_

"Where do you think you went wrong, Doctor?" asks Cy-Kill curtly, blaming me for their latest fiasco--which I had nothing to do with.

I glare at him from behind my maximum prison cell. The Guardians caught me again on some unrelated business regarding one of my esteemed colleagues early inventions--which I was able to fix and use as a weapon against said do-gooder robots. And the Autobots, for that matter, when they tried to interfere.

But that's another story. This one begins a typical day for me.

I decide to cut my Renegade friend short. "Are you going to kidnap me and add to my consecutive life sentences or not?" I ask in annoyance.

"Not this time, Braxis." I've heard that one before. "You've failed me once too often."

This damned idiot has some nerve! "What the deuce are you talking about?"

"That combiner plan of yours."

"Mine!? I mentioned that an endogestalt similar to the Stunticons may hold the key to defeating your enemies. You're the one who jumped the gun."

"Oh," sneers Cy-Kill with mock incredulity, "so you had nothing to do with implementation." Damn. I suppose I did help that useless black Porsche engineer of theirs do the impossible.

"So I'm to blame for actually finding a way to make your latest stupid plan work." I glare at this idiot. "I warned you from the beginning that you Gobots are wired differently than the Cybertronians; you can't simply create a chipset from scratch!"

"Then why was the Puzzler such a miserable failure!?" thunders Cy-Kill. "We followed your directions to the letter."

"I told you what was wrong with them when they first came online," I spit. "If you want something that will repeat itself, buy a parrot."

Cy-Kill scowls at me. "Good day, Dr. Braxis." He and a rather-snarky Cop-Tur leave. Dr. Go looks at me apologetically, knowing that we both tried to tell his idiot leader the problem.

Crasher remains behind a moment, her optics pleading. "I've...made some arrangements for your departure," she hisses.

Oh, dear: she's not in her usual manic state. It must be her bond with the components. Knowing Cy-Kill.... It's best not to think about it, although clearly she thinks I can somehow help.

I touch her hand to reassure her; she winces.

"Get your mitts off me, you slimeball," Crasher scowls. She leaves, flying back to Thruster, I suppose.

Back to my bunk.


	2. Braxis 02

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-02**_

I awake to the sound of one of my cell walls being decimated. Turbo's fighting against some other robots some distance off--I can hear that obnoxious voice of his a mile away.

Just as I thought. "Once again, Cy-Kill: you've come back to me, cap in hand--what the hell!?"

I study the three robots in my cell. These are the _other_ megalomaniacal machines--leaders of a group of ne'er-do-well Cybertronians.

After collecting my self, I speak again. "Megavolt, I presume."

The leader glares at me, while the arrogant one with the bright red chest starts in immediately, leaning into my face. "Listen to me, you puny insect. We don't have to tolerate--*"

I groan, having been subject to similar threats from the Renegades and some of the Guardians.(Most notably the red Guardian idiot fighting...two blatant clones of the obnoxious lieutenant: Thundercracker and Skywarp.)

"Get over yourselves; this is all talk," I state, rolling my eyes.

"The esteemed doctor has a point, Starscream," states the leader. "Let's escort him out of here before the Guardian decides to use his brain and summon reinforcements."

If UNECOM gives me trouble, I was kidnapped by the Decepticons this week. It's certainly a change from the usual pace.

I shrug as the monotonous blue one(_him_ I know quite well) unceremoniously plops me inside Starscream. We fly off.

Crasher may be down in the dumps about the components, but she's as demented as ever. _Arrangements_, indeed....


	3. Braxis 03

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-03**_

Decepticon Headquarters: also known as the underwater death trap. The leader gives me the standard spiel: behold, puny flesh creature, technologies far beyond what you could possibly imagine.

"Give it a rest, you sorry rustbucket! If you'd quit being a conceited shit for a moment, and cease with your infernal insults to my intelligence, you'd know that I can imagine a great deal.

"I am the foremost expert on robotics, and for all of your _sturm und drang_, you are all robots; your thoughts encoded in ones and zeroes--same as any _**Apple IIe**_."

"Don't you dare compare us to those primitive calculators!" spits Starscream, the jaunty red jet. He's not nearly as personable as Fitor.

"Indeed," adds the leader. "You are testing our patience."

"I beg your forgiveness, Megawatt." My latest quip elicits another of those glares.

Damn it; I'm actually beginning to miss those miserable Renegades.

I turn to Soundwave, the only one in this troupe who isn't a dolt. "Could you please ask them to quit breathing out empty threats and ask me what they want?"

The Blue One turns to his leader, who answers. "Very well. It's about your friends the Renegades. They have stolen technology that belongs to us. Using the stolen tech against their own enemies, the resulting gestalt failed in its first mission.

"Answer us, Doctor: why?"

I study the leader, who seems as irritated as I do about the mess Cy-Kill created. I grin...then laugh for a bit.

"Megatron," I smile after a moment, "I'd be happy to tell you what I know."

This will be an excellent time to vent.


	4. Braxis 04

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-04**_

I essentially explain to Megatron what I explained to Cy-Kill: due to internal differences between Gobots and Cybertronians--minor but notable--a Gobot can't simply build a set of robots and plug them together as a gestalt. Otherwise, the Guardians would have created an endogestalt long before landing on my planet.

"For one," notes one of the lime green construction Decepticons(Hook, I think), "sentient minds are required."

"Exactly." I'm so impressed that he understands the technology involved that I decide to overlook the fact that he addressed me the way one would address a four-year old--or that dolt Turbo.

"Your kind can create robots with sentient minds by building them, basically," I continue, "you don't need a Spark Agent."

"What's a Spark Agent?" asks Wildrider, the gray Stunticon, loudly.

"Akin to Vector Sigma, I believe," I answer. "While you could have done without said supercomputer--as your central processors were sophisticated enough to function independently--you probably would have only possessed the neuroprocessing power of the Dinobots."

The bright yellow Stunticon, Drag Strip, leans close to me. "You mean like old Motormouth?" he smirks, tweaking the nose of the rather bullish Motormaster.

I decide to ignore Drag Strip for the moment, proceeding to continue with my explanation.(I value my life quite highly, after all.) "The primary problem is that you Decepticons needed a gestalt, and the resulting neural load would have caused serial cascade failure."

"So, if Megatron hadn't taken us to Cybertron, we would have died," muses Dead End. "Not that it matters--we'll all die eventually...." He's rather cheerful.

"Yes," I answer. "Gobots, on the other hand, require Spark Agents; and all Spark Agents on Gobotron are female."

"The Gobot fembots?" questions Thundercracker.

Skywarp decides to be droll. "Crasher's been busy getting her ports tapped."

"Not quite," I counter after watching this fool sway his hips. "If that had occured, there wouldn't have been a Puzzler for another 500 thousand years at least--and Cy-Kill was on a schedule."

"So you found a way to circumvent the Spark Agent requirement?" asks Scrapper, another lime green Constructicon.

"That is impossible! Data packets have to enter a female Gobot."

"Which leads back to my theory: Crasher in a multi-Renegade gang-dive--serving her cause," Skywarp grins.

"No, you idiot!" I seethe. Megatron snickers; I must have stolen the words off his tongue.

"It may help," I continue, "if you consider--dare I say it--human reproduction." This predictably prompts the "ewww!" responses from the retarded elements of the Decepticon ranks.

Scavenger decides to chime in. "Actually, if you ignore the gross human mating part, the process of cellular meiosis is actually similar to our primary chipset process." That was the "useless" Constructicon? He's worth more than a number of the Renegades.

"Yes," I grin, "and we humans have a process called _in vitro_ fertilization, which we designed to aid infertile humans who want to have a natural gestation process using their own DNA. DNA would correspond to data packets in your reproductive methods if you decide on using internal Spark Agents."

"So," muses Megatron, "by applying this _in vitro_ process to the Gobots, you circumvented the need for Crasher to dive."

Skywarp still insists on his theory. "You still need data streams," he quips. "So where'd you get them if Crasher was such a clean girl?"

"We managed to obtain suitable data packets from various Gobot donors," I answer simply. "Dr. Go and I then extracted data packets from Crasher and set about creating chipset starters.

"It went downhill from there." I throw up my hands in exasperation.

"Explain." Megatron folds his arms.


	5. Braxis 05

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-05**_

I finish my tale, explaining--without further details--that Puzzler failed due more to Cy-Kill's impatience than any flaws the components had. Simply put, their minds weren't given enough time to develop before he sent them after the Guardians--who soundly defeated them.

"So what's Cy-Kill going to do with those components?" asks Breakdown. "They're kind of based on us--being cars and all--so they're like our kid brothers."

I roll my eyes at the usually-paranoid Stunticon. "Cy-Kill intends to destroy them. Good luck explaining that gestalt components at even their rudimentary level are sentient--and therefore alive."

"They're going to kill...robots that came from Crasher...?" Breakdown trembles.(Crasher is somehow an idol of his.)

"We gotta stop this shit now!" demands Wildrider.

Drag Strip eyes Motormaster balefully. "He'll never quit griping about it."

Motormaster studies his teammates. "...we get to break scrap, right?"

"Cyk's even colored like that Autobot hard-aft," smirks Drag Strip, apparently selling his point. Wildrider nods, shuddering giddily.

"But he isn't Prime--he's just a shitty motor bike," Motormaster winces. I presume that he would rather hunt bigger fish.

"Think of him as your personal punch drone, not that it matters," sighs Dead End. "We shall all become scrap in the end."

"Shut the fuck up, End--we're all going," orders Motormaster, nodding to his fellow Stunticons.

"I gave no such order," scowls Megatron.

"I know, but you want Bike Breath to pay for stealing our shit, don't you?"

Megatron pins Motormaster to a wall. "Your insolence eats away at my patience, Motormaster. Defy me again, and you'll end up like this." The great Decepticon leader blasts a hole through Starscream's chest.

"Makes sense," scowls Motormaster, doing an admirable job of masking his fear.

This pleases Megatron, who releases Motormaster. "You may go."

Motormaster leaves, with the other Stunticons fleeing from Megatron's presence.

Starscream clutches his wound, writhing in pain. "Was that necessary!?" he hisses in fury.

"No," smirks Megatron, "but it was satisfying." Turning to Hook, Scrapper and Scavenger, he orders them to carry Starscream to their repair bay.

This has been an eventful evening.


	6. Braxis 06

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-06**_

"Soundwave." Megatron turns to the Blue One. "I trust that Dr. Braxis has been forthcoming. Do you agree?"

I eye Soundwave balefully. "It's useless to lie to someone who can extract information directly from my mind by reading my brain waves. Please confirm to him that I haven't lied."

Soundwave faces me, impassive as always. "Not by commission."

"I omitted unimportant details, and you know it. You're nitpicking."

Soundwave nods to Megatron, who smiles.

"Soundwave," he orders, "you and Thundercracker will escort the good doctor to a place of his choosing."

Soundwave salutes his leader. "As you command, Megatron." He carefully picks me up and leaves.

A few minutes later, I learn how these admittedly inventive robots manage to leave the bottom of the Pacific to carry out their nefarious plots. Soundwave places me inside Thundercracker's cockpit, then transforms--somehow displacing the bulk of his mass.

"Impressed?" quips Soundwave.

"You read my mind," I admit sardonically. "The ship: was it your design?"

"Affirmative."

We continue this refreshingly succinct bit of small talk as I request a trip to Paris. Considering I ordinarily wouldn't be caught dead in my beknighted homeland, I know the Guardians won't look for me there.

I'm a free man? Oh, no. This is going far too smoothly.


	7. Braxis 07

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-07**_

Ah. Some parts of French culture are actually enjoyable. A loaf of bread, a fine cheese, a glass of wine...

...and him. I just lost my appetite. "Good _Brie_, Braxis?" grins Turbo crudely.

I hate that look--it usually means that the Guardians are bothered about some invisible moral code of theirs that's been broken. "What do you want?" I demand.

"I want to kill you," scowls Turbo. "Leader One wants you back in the States to answer some questions."

"Can't I at least finish my _dejeuner_?" I sigh.

Turbo transforms. "Either you get in, or you become bloody leftovers on my tires."

"Of course: violence is the answer." I roll my eyes and enter Turbo.

He roars off angrily onto the streets of Paris, giving me whiplash.


	8. Braxis 08

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-08**_

Thirty minutes in, I start to object to his manhandling; but he has a comeback.

"Keep griping, crazy," he spits, opening his roof. "You might get lost over the Alps. I ain't scooping up your disgusting remains."

"This is completely unwarranted!" I counter as Turbo crosses the border into Germany, hitting the Autobahn.

"You know, Braxis," continues Turbo, "I'd hate to tell Leader One that you _forgot_ to buckle your seat belt. And if my passenger door was unlocked.... You see where this is headed, don't you?"

"I know a thinly-veiled threat when I hear one," I spit.


	9. Braxis 09

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-09**_

Back at the good old AT-AT (Hunter's obnoxious name for one of the Guardians' numerous ships), the other Guardians aren't in a much better mood than Turbo. If at all possible, Leader One's mood is even fouler.

He's livid. Slowly, methodically, he kneels and leans into my face. "...why?" he hisses, seething.

Turbo's anger is normal. Small Foot's outrage, expected. Scooter, as usual, is "freaked out". Several other Guardians don't look happy with me either, but it comes with the territory of being the Renegades' nominal ally.

An angry Leader One, however, is a new--and disturbing--development. "Dr. Braxis," he states calmly, "if you value your life, you will answer me."

"Twist the motherfucker's arm and make him answer!" screams one of the only two Autobots in the Command Center. Sunstreaker I believe.

The other one, one of the Aerialbots, holds Sunstreaker back. "Calm down, Streaky," he quips. "You had to know that the Black Glitch Plane was tooling you for your data stream."

"I know that, you damn tool!" Sunstreaker breaks the Aerialbot's hold. "I shot it in her--not that you'd understand, being green-lit and all. Nowhere in that did I plan on having any of my data inside the Crazy Car!

"Scrap! What does my kid look like--?" Sunstreaker notes the Aerialbot's fist in his face.

"You wanna run that by me again, Papa Streaky?" the Aerialbot smirks.

"Slingshot, I'd love an excuse to beat you silly; you green-lit waste of alloy! Go ahead--pick a fight with me!"

"Bring it, Sunny Glitches. I'll drop your ground-grubbing aft so hard that Sideswipe'll feel it!"

"Talk's like you, flyboy: cheap!"

Leader One turns his head away from me to glare at the two arguing Autobots. "Shut up, or I will drop both of you jack-afts." The two Autobots back away from and scowl at each other.

All too soon, Leader One returns his hardened gaze to me. "I'm waiting."

How am I going to get out of this one?


	10. Braxis 10

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Braxis-10**_

Hunter pays me a visit, shaking his head bemusedly. "You don't even know what you did, do you?"

"I hate repeating myself," I answer dourly. I had already told the UNECOM fools and the Guardians what they wanted to know.

"No--not that...never mind."

"You think they'd be satisfied with knowing how to disable the Renegades' stealth device." At which point the Renegades will break me out of prison in earnest--to convince me to help them build a new one.

"Why do you even bother helping the Renegades? They're trying to conquer our planet."

"Earth deserves to be conquered."

"...I don't get you, Dr. Braxis," Hunter winces.

"Think of Santa Claus, when you were a child." Best to keep it simple for this dullard. "You're told that he'll come down your chimney and bring you gifts on Christmas Eve if you've been nice, or a lump of coal in your stocking if you're naughty."

"And then you're disappointed when your parents reveal that Santa's not real." At least Hunter's trying to understand. Burns probably still believes.

"Not quite." I reach for another analogy. "Perhaps I'm like that kid who's already peeked at the gifts before Christmas Morning."

"I'd always managed to figure out what my parents got me for Christmas, but I still managed to enjoy the holiday."

"What if you were the child of obscenely wealthy parents?" I ask.

"If my parents were loaded? I'd get whatever I wanted on Christmas," Hunter grins.

"And any other day of the year. If your parents had been wealthy, the thought of Santa and his "nice and naughty" lists would lose its charm.

"What gift is suitable for the man who has everything?" I sigh. "For that matter, where are the secrets of the universe hidden in the stars?

"You know what? It's a joke--a cruel, cosmic joke."

"We've encountered numerous alien races, if that's what you're griping about. You should know--you keep aiding and abetting the crimes of a group of aliens." Natural for Hunter to point out the obvious.

"Don't I know it. That's the very problem!" I spit. "Here's our planet, wallowing in crisis and bloodshed, unable to make progress. We look to the stars, thinking that advanced alien cultures have moved past our pedestrian problems--but no!

"No matter the planet, no matter the galaxy: it's the same damned song, again and again! Like that rich kid who scoffs at Santa, I wonder what's the difference between us and the Gobots.

"They're robots? So what!?" I continue my rant. "The mystery of that ended for me twenty-five years ago--when I first entered my field of expertise. Aliens? Big deal. There's still love, hate, war, death and taxes.

"Surprise me! Show me something new, something I haven't seen before." I turn away, disgusted by the whole of the situation.

Hunter studies me carefully. "I think," he says after a pause, "that the fault--and the answer--to all that isn't in the stars, but in ourselves." He shrugs and leaves, having irreparably mutilated the Bard.

My dear Earth is populated by fools. "When ignorance is bliss...". Bah.


	11. Hunter 01

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Hunter-01**_

"Sunstreaker, you're wearing a hole in the ground," I sigh.

"I don't care!" the Autobot fumes, this time with his calmer, more rational "twin" instead of the Aerial Instigator. "My fuse is still hot over having a damn pet with...Crasher! Not the fembot I shafted--no! Fucking Crasher."

"Cy-Kill's a warped piece of hardware, huh?"

"You think this is funny, Matt!?"

"No," I lie, poorly.

"Come on, Sunny," grins Sideswipe, gently punching his brother's arm(so as not to ruin his Precious enamel). "Optimus won't let you back in the base until you calm down. I've seen you hold a grudge before, but for two different mechs?

"You know how Slingshot is; and it's not like Crasher isn't eye candy."

"That demented _krokoutas_," seethes Sunstreaker, "has no right to my data packets." He continues griping as he and Sideswipe leave.

Leader One says Slingshot's a nice kid, but like all of the Aerialbots, he has serious issues; the big one, in his opinion, being the fact that they fly and most of the Autobots don't. I take this with the usual grain of salt, though; ever since the Autobots and their enemies surfaced, I've felt uneasy about my Gobot friend--paranoid that instead of him, I might get an F-15 robot with a Purple Sticker and a gray repaint.

It's possible: Slingshot pulled that stunt once(it was a dumb prank) and he just waltzed right past security. The Renegades, not to be outdone, had disguised themselves as Leader One and had cloned almost all of the Guardians.

I won't even think about bringing any type of radio in--wonderful.

"Excuse me," I ask the young soldier(an Army private), "where did you get the tape recorder?" Which is dark blue with a Purple Sticker.

"I found it outside, sir. Was going to take it to Lost and Found."

I smile at the kid; he's new. "For future reference, Private...Hanna: we don't allow any electronic devices beyond this point. I know it seems kind of paranoid, but it's just a precaution."

"Understood, sir." Yeah, buck private.

"I'll take care of this for you." I take the Blue Tape Deck out of Hanna's hands. "Any tapes for this thing lying around?" I add as I place the "lost" tape deck inside a small sack.

"These three, sir." Hanna hands me three tapes: two black ones and a blue one--all with Purple Stickers. I add them to the sack.

"Thank you. Also for your information: if you notice any electronic devices lying around outside, don't bring them in here. Just let one of us or the Guardians know. We'd know who it belongs to."

"Thank you, sir." Hanna salutes me and leaves.

I step outside, then return these four "lost" gizmos to sender--hurling Soundwave and his partners in crime as far away as my old high school quarterback arm will let me.

In the distance: Soundwave, Rumble, Frenzy and Laserbeak all transform to escape the sack and threaten me(they aren't happy!), even as I press the silent alarm to alert the Guardians.

That asshole is not sneaking in this base today.


	12. Hunter 02

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Hunter-02**_

Leader One has a mean grin on his face. That's not a good sign.

"What are you up to, buddy?" I ask.

"In just a few more days, the puzzle will be solved." In other words, he had already cooked up the plan the moment Dr. Braxis sang for us almost a month ago.

"You're still moody about that?" I mean, as far as devious Renegade plots go, what Cy-Kill had pulled off was fairly benign--at the time.

Leader One scowls at me. "If you tell me one more time that at least I got something out of it...."

Damn! He got more out of it than Crasher did.

"And do not inform me that you would have paid good money for it, either," he adds dourly. "The reason we can't have Cy-Kill arrested for his sick stunt was because he'd hired a chunk of Gobotron's red-light district and some medics-in-training with cold hands."

Poor Sparky. She can't let go of that poor cold-handed med student trying to extract data packets. Maybe Cy-Kill should have hired Ratchet for the job.

"Just whose fault is it that prostitution is legal on Gobotron?" I ask.

Leader One, being who he is, opts to change the subject. "As the six Puzzler components are children, we can remove them from unstable living conditions--unless the prime creator obeys the court summons within thirty days."

"And the deadline's almost up for Crasher." This is low.

Now granted, Thruster and Rogue Star are horrible child-rearing environments. No child services bureau in the galaxy would question Leader One on this.

My problem is that Leader One's playing dirty pool, and he knows it. He had Scooter slip the summons in Thruster One. With Cy-Kill's numerous schemes and Leader One's lame, ersatz "inventions for the betterment of all peoples"--which the Renegades dutifully attempt to steal--are the Renegades even going to notice one nondescript data pad?

"It's not even about the Puzzle Pets, is it?"

"What do you mean, Matt?" balks Leader One, perturbed. "I'm concerned about their welfare."

"Don't hand me that! That's bullshit! Just because you're one-half politician doesn't mean you have to supply a steady diet of bullshit."

"I repeat: what the hell are you talking about? At least one of those brats is _mine_, and you think I don't care?"

"Still isn't about that."

"Then what's it about, Matt?" asks Leader One dryly. "Please, enlighten me."

"This is the most vindictive thing I've ever seen you do."

"I receive an unsolicited...blow job...from one of my sworn enemies. I was thinking that Cy-Kill was planning an extortion hit on us, but no."

"You're really sounding like Sunstreaker."

"That narcissistic sociopath? Spare me the specious comparisons."

"You're pissed because you didn't get to inject your data streams inside your _sworn enemy_ the old-fashioned way."

"Matt? Are you feeling okay?" Leader One stares at me.

"I'm fine."

"Seriously: what the fuck are you on?"

"The truth, pal of mine. _You can't handle the truth._"

"Misquoting Colonel Jessup's soliloquy from _**A Few Good Men**_ _is no way to go through life_, Matt."

"And your murder of Dean Wormer's classic line in _**Animal House**_ is so much better. I survived Basic Training on that."

Leader One smiles normally, relaxing to our unwritten "don't stay mad at each other rule". When we start mangling movie quotes, it's a sign that maybe we've taken things too far. We're both pilots--we get heated sometimes.

"You still wanted to enter that _input_, didn't you?" I quip.

"Fuck you," counters Leader One in kind. He's not ready to broach the subject of himself, Crasher and the mixed emotions and signals.

I'd harass him about using his forcefield next time, but even I think it's too much.


	13. Hunter 03

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Hunter-03**_

Here comes General N to call Leader One on his bullshit "inventions for the betterment of the universe".

"What the hell is this!?" he rightly demands. holding the latest "invention".

"It's a model for a solar refractor ray," answer Leader One. Never mind that it appears to the naked eye to be a magnifying glass duct-taped to a cardboard shoebox, held at a 45-degree angle with a chopstick.

General Newcastle shakes his head bemusedly. He was belatedly briefed on the Puzzler's...unique origins when he saw that the "advanced Gobot inventions" were starting to look like his grandson's show and tell projects.

"Leader One: you are a sad, sad robot. No one's going to steal this! Dewey(the aforementioned grandson) wouldn't steal this."

"My real goal is to distract the Renegades," counters Leader One, "and it's working so far."

"That is, to distract Crasher from reading that court summons," snickers the general.

"As long as this keeps up for four more days, I don't care how ridiculous my ploy looks."

Newcastle pulls out another "invention". "This is a tricorder prop from _**Star Trek**_."

"Our Command Centers look like AT-ATs. Is it really that implausible that Gobotron might have other devices that resemble something from your science fiction?"

"It is when the prop says 'Property of Paramount Pictures'." The general eyes Leader One. "Step into my office. You need a drink."

"Energon consumption is illegal," Leader One states automatically. That's the problem right there: Gobots aren't getting themselves overenergized--and thus, wasted like everyone else in the Milky Way.

"Maybe, but it can't be any more dangerous than whatever possessed you to think this crazy stunt would work...." General Newcastle and Leader One leave.

Never, ever a dull moment with the Guardians.


	14. Crasher 01

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Crasher-01**_

My six potentially lethal grease monkeys.

Now, even by my low standards, this is strange. I had no plans for motherhood when the plan started; yet their continued function pleases me somehow. No matter how aggravating they become, no matter how much some of them--okay, most of them--remind me of their _accursed contributors_...

...I don't want them dead. I actually like these miserable brats of mine.

It helps that they serve me with total devotion. That must be it. Hearing a miniature Sunstreaker with Zero's odd accent call me "mama" is also cute.

Once again, that toad Braxis is right--they did need tin pet bodies.

An interesting little gestalt hierarchy has formed during the past month--a month of pointless stupid. Leader One's logic circuits are fried--I'm certain that the human Dewey Newcastle put that "solar refractor ray" together. I truly hope so.

Then again, he's been acting strangely ever since...the data collection drive. That's all it was. Nothing to it.

Anyway, it's no surprise that Tic Tac's the head, channelling the best and worst of Cy-Kill and Small Foot mostly. Never mind that he still wants the six of them turned to scrap. As someone who ordinarily relishes the thought of mechanized dismemberment, my aversion to their destruction is odd.

After that is a jumble. I'd expected Jigsaw to take second, but that was too much--he mostly reminds me of that Guardian cop bot What's-Hans-Face. Instead, it's been my pushy little orange know-it-all Crossword all the way.

I don't know why I like him so much; he's a bit like Turbo--though not nearly as stupid.

With Crossword, I think it could be that he and Jigsaw basically have Zero's big blue optics.(Zero taught me everything I know.) Renegades from both sides of the divide contributed heavily to the Puzzle Project, but only six of the resulting starters were viable.

That has to be it. Or the fact that his "roaring grown-up" mode reminds me a bit of Spoiler. Despite the divide, he and I have stayed close. Natural, considering he's family--the only one worth having...

...at least until now. Pocket(my mini-Sunstreaker), Rube, and Zigzag round my boys out.

Still don't know what fascinates me about Crossword. It can't be because of Leader One's.... Not even close.

"Crasher: report to the bridge at once," orders Cy-Kill. I wonder what damnable fake gadget Leader One's cooked up for us today. This is becoming sadly-executed farce.


	15. Tux

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Tux**_

I don't know why Zero agreed to join forces with this dolt--it isn't like him.

One of our newest Renegades is fidgeting madly(how typical of a tin pet.).

"...any questions?" As though any of these poltroons ever question Cy-Kill. "...good. Let's be off then, Renega--*"

"Hold it!" screams the squirming urchin, a little orange chap named Crossword.

"You dare to--*" balks Cy-Kill.

"A moment of your time, Dear Leader." Crossword rather impudently brushes past Cy-Kill to pick up a data pad. "This document has been here for twenty-eight days and four hours, untouched and unmoved until now.

"This could have been a bomb planted by the Guardians--or worse, that creep Soundwave in his alt mode, spying on us."

"It looks like a data pad to me," grins Pocket, his yellow brother(who bears a striking semblance to Sunstreaker).

"That's because--lucky for us--it is a data pad. Here's what it says: 'You are hereby--*'."

I immediately snatch the pad out of Crossword's hands, to his consternation. As a lawyer, I know that those words usually precede some legal document that we Renegades--owing to our main profession--would have been too busy to peruse.

And knowing Leader One, he was banking on it--I'm certain. "Your instincts are sharp, my good chap. This Gobot court summons refers directly to you and your fellows.

"Come, Crasher," I continue as I take Crasher's hand. "We've not time to dawdle."

"Where are you taking Mom!?" demand her six miscreants.

"To court."

"A basketball court?" asks Pocket.

I shake my head as I reveal my cane, activate my portable wormhole, and briskly move Crasher and myself inside.


	16. Leader One 01

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Leader One-01**_

This won't end well....

"Let me see if I'm clear on this, Leader One," continues the magistrate, leveling her stern gaze at me. "The complaint was filed in a timely manner."

"Yes, magistrate," I assent.

"The summons to the plaintiff was delivered, per court order, to the plaintiff's residence." The magistrate refers to Crasher, one of the lead insurrectionists plotting to overthrow our planet.

And "the plaintiff's residence" would be the cloaked Thruster currently orbiting Earth's moon. "Yes, magistrate."

"After this took place, the plaintiff made no attempt to contact this court."

"That is correct, magistrate."

The magistrate carefully studies both Crasher(and her attorney, the forever-damnable Tux) and myself.

"I would like to see both counsels and the defendant in my chambers." The magistrate sounds her gavel and leaves the bench.

Crasher and Tux follow the magistrate into her chambers; my lawyer, who ordinarily makes his living chasing medics, winces at me. "She doesn't buy your story, Governor-general."

"It's the truth. We were building things for thirty days straight." The fact that they were almost all rigidly-inspired by Dewey's _**Big Book of Fun Science Projects**_ has no bearing on this case.

"I can't do my job if you lie to me." My lawyer sighs. "What really happened?"

I stop outside the magistrate's chambers. "I have told you everything."

"No, you haven't. You're keeping something out."

"I am not! I'm the most honest politician you'll ever meet."

"Listen. I've spent over seven million years as a civil and trial attorney. The first and most expensive lesson I learned after graduating from law school is that: clients. Will. Lie.

"Most of my clients will lie about dumb things. As I know this going in, I usually force a given client to tell me the truth before setting foot in here.

"But you? Surely the Governor-general of Gobotron knows better than to lie under oath."

"Leaving aside the fact that the plaintiff and her lawyer are wanted subversive elements and felons." I shake my head, disgusted. "How was I named the defendant at all? I'm the one who filed the complaint in the first place!"

"Don't get heated."

"Six young lives are at stake."

"Then, sir: you must tell the truth, you must tell the whole truth--in its entirety, and you must tell nothing but the truth."

"The burden of proof falls on Tux to prove that I've done anything wrong."

My lawyer gives me a sympathetic look. "You've never been in a courtroom this long, have you, sir?"

"No." Usually, I'm in long enough to give depositions during trials for captured Renegades. Due process and all.

"I'm going to get at it indirect, then." My lawyer steps into the magistrate's chambers, speaks with her a moment, then leaves. "Let's step outside."


	17. Leader One 02

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Leader One-02**_

Outside are Turbo and Scooter.

"What's taking so long, Leader One?" my second asks. "It's a routine, open and shut case."

"Not if Tux creates extra doors." I scowl.

"Don't you boys worry!" My lawyer claps me hard on the shoulder. "Not even a master craftsman like Tux can build a case without the right materials. Right, Leader One?"

"...I'll handle everything on this end, Turbo," I smile stiffly. "You and Scooter hold the fort back on Earth."

"...roger...." Giving me a skeptical glance, Turbo leaves. Scooter follows him after shooting me a worried pout.

"Realistically," asks my lawyer, "what are Tux's chances of winning this case?"

"Ninety-nine point-four percent," I answer, losing my smile.

"And if you level with me?"

"...one hundred," I admit gratingly. "I have no case."

"So my investigation did turn up the truth: you and the other Guardians stationed on Earth concocted phony--I'll use the Earth term--MacGuffins for the Renegades to chase after, waiting for the play clock to run down."

And I would have gotten away with it but for that meddling orange kid....

"Spare me any badly-acted words of righteous indignation, sir. Yes, I investigate my clients independently. Which reminds me...."

Soundwave appears and lands. My lawyer takes out credits and pays his investigator. The Decepticon pockets his oddly legal funds and flies away.

"You expect a guy with his name to be noisier." My lawyer notes my morose scowl. "Aw, don't feel bad. Any fees you pay me go toward the best."

"Tux would have hired local."

"Tux owns forty-eight percent of the investigative agencies on Gobotron. He can afford to be cheap.

"In this case, Tux also has the rare luxury of already knowing his client's whole story going in." My lawyer grunts, unhappy with the prospect of losing. "When we go into chambers, level with the magistrate. Between the two of us--and with hard evidence from this little guy--*"

"Who're you callin' little, ya Gobot ham-an'-egger!?" shrieks the cassette, either Rumble or Frenzy. I get them confused.

"Sorry," quips my lawyer, turning back to me. "We can at least restore a bit of your credibility with her."


	18. Crasher 02

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Crasher-02**_

Speech! Speech! Speech!

Tux gives me a hard glance, silently threatening to strike me dead if I say my thoughts aloud.

Thankfully, the magi obliges me anyway. "Crasher, I am appalled that you would even think of using the gift of Spark Agency as a weapon to undermine our society. Nonetheless, I am not surprised. Still, the fact that you acted to save your creations' lives is a mitigating factor that I have considered. Despite your foul attitude, I do have faith that you will see reason one day.

"With that hope in mind, I reluctantly rule that you will retain custody of the Puzzler Six."

"As to you, Leader One." Watching him--the oh-so-calm-and-together one--squirm under the lash of the law is too delicious. Cy-Kill will be pleased--and will probably spare the brats because of it.

"I understand that you are charged to uphold the law, and punish transgressors of the law. In so doing, I will remind you not to subvert the law--or to attempt to manipulate it to your own ends, no matter how noble those ends may be.

"For an officer of your stature, perjury is an impeachable offense." Ooh...that means that Leader One could lose his job! Impeach! Impe...never mind. Tux is giving me that look again.

"The mitigating factor in your case, however, is the series of events which led to the creation of the Puzzler Six, and the subsequent battle with the Puzzler Gestalt." She turns another stern look my way.

"The data extraction, in particular, may have affected you emotionally--and thus impaired your usually-keen judgment. I hereby sentence you and the Guardians involved in the data extraction incident to 4320 hours of counseling, at your own personal expense. From a Gobot standpoint, that will take place in one-hour increments, once per day. The counseling will become a part of your daily routine until the time alloted has elapsed, although I anticipate further use of this resource once the hours have expired.

"That is all. This court is adjourned." With that, the magi sounds her gavel, and....

I win. She leaves, and I laugh in triumph.

Turbo, still peeved that the magi gave him and his band of do-gooders a life lesson, orders me to shut up. Loser.

Leader One walks up to congratulate me. "Well played, I must admit." He offers his hand for a handshake, and I'm cursing the fact that I left my Killjoy Buzzer at Rogue Star.

Still, he almost had us fooled with that stunt of his, so I might give him kudos for that--in my own way. So I shake his hand...

...big mistake, as he pulls me to him. "I'll be thinking of you," he hisses(which is rather seductive, actually), "every interminable hour I waste in a counseling session."

"How kind."

"They won't be nice thoughts."

"I should hope not."

"You went too far."

"I do my best to please."

Leader One lowers his voice further, to where it's almost inaudible. "When I return the favor, I won't be gentle."

"Presuming you have the lugs for it," I smirk.

"Be patient." Leader One touches my chin briefly. When his optics smolder like that....

He backs away and orders his Guardian goon squad to leave.

What a relief. The temperature controls are malfunctioning in this courtroom.


	19. Optimus Prime

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES.

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I will do a simple Q & A in Fanfiction Format at the end.

_**Optimus Prime**_

It looks like Sunstreaker's back to his old self--for the most part. He seems to really be warming up to the idea of parenthood.

Too bad the rest of us will be warming up with him. Sunstreaker decided today was kidnap Pocket from the Renegades day--which puts us on their scrap list.

And guess who's front and center.

"Listen, Sunny," quips Snoop, "it was beautiful, but it's over!"

Sunstreaker's not a happy bot. "You and that sorry excuse for a car are going down!"

Snoop crashes--due to a well-placed shot from Slingshot.

"The glitch was mine, you target thief!" Sunstreaker spits.

Slingshot shrugs. "I can't help it--I always hit what I aim for."

"Knock it off!" orders Silverbolt, hand on Slingshot's shoulders. "Save some for the rest of us."

"With Air Raid's aim, I hope there will be a rest of us."

An "errant" torque rifle shot narrowly misses Slingshot. "I think my aim's just fine--now quit tooling around with Silverbolt and get in the air."

"You ain't the boss of me!"

"No, but I am." Silverbolt glares at our ground support. "Get in the damn air."

"I'll go when you do, wing leader." Slingshot gives a mock salute, transforms, and takes off like a rocket to antagonize his wingmates--instead of the rest of us.

"Do what you want with the rest of these clowns," spits Sunstreaker, "but the two glitches are mine!"

"You couldn't handle the both of us before," Crasher mocks, "so what makes you think you have what it takes now?"

I myself am having a surprisingly hard time fighting Cy-Kill. He's fast.

"I'm not nearly the sluggish bore that old Buckethead is, am I!?" he sneers.

When I consider that he was once friends with the most obnoxious flying robot I've ever met, beating the slag out of him will be ecstasy.

"Just what the medic ordered, huh, Prime?" grins Brawn.

"Yeah." Ironhide adds his bit. "Target practice."

Pocket, grinning along with the rather-glum Dinobots(who feel left out), is cheering both sides on. He's having the time of his life.

To be a child again.

END ISSUE 3


	20. Pick Up the Puzzler Pieces 20 Q's

**TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA**

_**CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS #3**_: PICK UP THE PUZZLER PIECES - Q & A!

_byline_: Anubis C. Soundwave

As promised, here's the Q & A session.

1. Who is Dr. Braxis?

He was the "other" mad scientist, a recurring villain and ally of the Renegades. Voiced wonderfully by Rene Auberjonois, he would eat scenery with Marilyn Lightstone's Crasher and the late Bernhard Erhard's Cy-Kill.

2. What time is this story taking place?

Sometime during the mid-80s, after the Puzzler episode of CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS. (Also see ending note.)

3. Just what exactly did the Renegades do?

...Leader One and Dr. Braxis pretty much answered that question. I don't want to go into detail.

4. What kind of Gobots are the magistrate and lawyer characters?

The lawyer's likely an ordinary car or van type, kind of rusty. Considering how easy the magistrate was on Crasher, she was probably another Crasher type.

5. Why is Crossword such a rude little cuss?

It's implied that most of Crossword's data came from Leader One, with a strong dash of Turbo and a hint of Spoiler and Zero.

6. Is Slingshot always such a tool to his fellow Autobots? Sunstreaker was distraught.

See Slingshot's tech spec. He's a jerk. But don't feel sorry for Sunstreaker--he's even worse.

7. Turbo's a lot meaner than his 1984 cartoon counterpart.

Please note #3. Also, Turbo was always (UNDERSTANDABLY) mean to Dr. Braxis.

8. The title indicates that this is a Transformers story, but we see a lot of Gobots characters.

This does center on the Puzzler gestalt, so....

9. It seems that Leader One's actually rather attracted to Crasher.

Let's just say that the events hinted at in #3 perked his attention.... At any rate, Crasher had a crush on him when she was younger (before her Renegade days). You do the math.

10. Why did Megatron shoot Starscream? He didn't even do anything!

Megatron's an evil jerk. He just wanted to be a dick to someone in this story. Besides, it was _Starscream_.

11. Why would the Stunticons care at all?

Breakdown has a one-sided crush on Crasher; they're both performance cars who use electrical attacks. Wildrider loves chaos.

12. It seems that Soundwave has been in contact with Dr. Braxis.

He is SOUNDWAVE. He knows all.

13. That Skywarp. He's a cut-up, thinking that Crasher...put out.

He is indeed, although (considering his general trend toward stupid) his salacious theory was understandable. Crasher, Snoop, Spoons and Vamp are the only noteworthy femmes in the Renegades; and Snoop...has very loose legs. Spoons is bulky; Vamp's...an Insecticon's dream girl--but no one else's! Crasher is a fearsome FORCE OF NATURE, hard to approach. (She also doesn't like Snoop, or Vamp.) Dr. Braxis explained how Crasher had the six components of Puzzler, including Pocket (if you'll note the toy, he's a short BANDAI clone of the Sunny One), without engaging in the shenanigans that Skywarp suggested. (Although she clearly did something with her mouth besides cackle maniacally; hence Leader One's...frustration.)

14. Where did legal prostitution on GOBOTRON come from?

[shrug] Alien planet. I don't question Ayeka's desire to marry Tenchi, and I won't question the motives of an 80s cartoon show based on a BANDAI toyline. Besides which--I made it up; it's only true in the TFCS universe.

15. Those Transformers and Gobots sure picked up on Earth expletives fast.

Some Autobots and the Stunticons caught on. Leader One is in regular contact with an Air Force Base--he's probably heard worse.

16. Cy-Kill and Megatron don't really see eye-to-eye, huh?

Megatron's annoyed that one: Cyk STOLE the Decepticons' gestalt tech to create the Puzzler, and two, that the Puzzler failed. I suspect that their separate schemes sometimes cause wires to cross. Cyk's both zanier and more down-to-earth than his Almightiness.

17. What the flug's a "tin pet"?

It's a small, "kiddie-robot" body; the term is from MEDABOTS. The tin pet is a simple way to create a child robot, who could hold a conversation without sounding like Sludge. In fact, if the Dinobots were in tin pet bodies, their syntax issue would be non-existent. Using Sludge again as an example, most of his computer brain's processing power is devoted to weapons management, transformation and walking. He's lucky to get words out. The Puzzler Six, being rushed into production, are at the stage Sludge was at during SOS DINOBOTS (until Wheeljack and Ratchet upgraded the three Dinobots' brains)--hence why the six full-sized robots ROARED like Gigantor (tetsujin-28) during their debut episode.

The tin pet, in short, is a way for the Puzzler Six to converse with Cy-Kill without roaring or chatter like the following: "Him Swoop am no dinosaur. Him am pterosaur." (While Slag is correct, the syntax is off.) [The Dinobots and the Six--from a Transformer/Gobot perspective, are kids.]

I suppose you're going to ask what a chipset is next, so let me save some time: it's a motherboard/RAM card/personality component/laser core(spark) combo that makes a given robot alive.

18. Dr. Braxis was yammering on about a neural load killing the Stunticons.

It actually relates to #17. Dragging in the Dinobots again: to build a gestalt, you need sentient minds developed enough to handle the load of a neural LAN (which is essentially what a gestalt link is, a LAN between the component computer brains). It's actually a bit more complicated, but Dr. Braxis is explaining it in terms humans who know computers would understand--mainly to show the Decepticons that he does understand the basic concepts. Devastator, for example, is a seventh virtual computer composed of the six Constructicons' brains. The Dinobots' brains are too limited to handle the bandwidth needed for the network, and it would cause their brains to crash. Vector Sigma can upgrade brains to the needed specs, so we have the Stunticons.

19. Dr. Braxis doesn't seem impressed with Megatron.

He's worked with the Renegades, and he's seen Decepticon plots suffer EPIC FAIL. It's all underwhelming when you're a low-rent megalomaniac. You'd think giant sentient robots would be better at this RULE THE WORLD thing, but repeated plans to build DEATH RAYS or LETHAL SUPERWEAPONS harshes the buzz, man. Career burnout's setting in.

20. Optimus thinks Leader One's more annoying than the SEEKERS OF VILNACRON, Powerglide and those goofy Aerialbots?

Leader One's a mature, rational Slingshot without the inferiority complex. The HIGH AND MIGHTY just rolls off him, unintentionally. Leader One doesn't like Optimus much either, though he doesn't have Optimus on his mind in this story. (it's quite occupied with a two-wheeled vehicle with a primary color scheme--whom he likely wants to strangle; and a four-wheeled Porsche] he'd like to...assert his air superiority onto in a relatively benign way.)

_A note about CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS in the Transformers timeline_:

In the original show (as I rewatched it), CotG was set in the near future. However, that was never clear to me in the original airing (when I was about eight or so), so I had set CotG in the 80s, right along with S1 & S2 of Transformers. That's why Ironhide and Brawn are still alive, for one.

In fact, it was all a blur (drat that Autobot!) during my childhood; Transformers and Challenge of the Gobots were part of the same BIG-AZ ROBOT universe, along with GI JOE. (Which means in my current series I'm working on, Turbo could have chats with Destro.)

Thus, this story is set around 1985-86. For CotG, past the Puzzler ep; for Transformers, after the Aerialbots arrived--Slingshot, after all, had to be there to be...himself. (Aerialbot fangirls love him for it.)

I hope you all enjoyed this December sneak preview of the metaseries TRANSFORMERS: CYBERTRON SAGA. You've just read the prose version of the CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS series, ISSUE 3.

This month, keep an eye out for other TFCS stories in TRANSFORMERS/BEAST WARS and CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS, including a New Year's Eve preview of THIRTEEN, Part One (Issues 1-7).

The first comic issue should be released September 2009, the 25th anniversary of both THE TRANSFORMERS (9/17/1984) and CHALLENGE OF THE GOBOTS (9/9/1984). [Yes. The Gobots came first!]


End file.
